Messages - P. Pius

Pretty straightforward. I'm in Pro Res now and was giving thought to taking the MPRE in November. I'm hesitant to put it off till March, in part because I know I'll be busy with other things then and don't know how much I'll retain once I finish the class.

I was giving thought to taking the MPRE in November, but am concerned that by taking it with still a month left of class, that will leave me in a bind for material that we haven't covered yet in class that will be on the exam. Anyone have any thought on whether it's a good idea to take the exam in November or is it better to wait till March??

Pretty straightforward. I'm in Pro Res now and was giving thought to taking the MPRE in November. I'm hesitant to put it off till March, in part because I know I'll be busy with other things then and don't know how much I'll retain once I finish the class.

I was giving thought to taking the MPRE in November, but am concerned that by taking it with still a month left of class, that will leave me in a bind for material that we haven't covered yet in class that will be on the exam. Anyone have any thought on whether it's a good idea to take the exam in November or is it better to wait till March??

Pretty straightforward. I'm in Pro Res now and was giving thought to taking the MPRE in November. I'm hesitant to put it off till March, in part because I know I'll be busy with other things then and don't know how much I'll retain once I finish the class.

I was giving thought to taking the MPRE in November, but am concerned that by taking it with still a month left of class, that will leave me in a bind for material that we haven't covered yet in class that will be on the exam. Anyone have any thought on whether it's a good idea to take the exam in November or is it better to wait till March??

This past summer I worked for a professor as a research assistant and helped her research/write her article for a law journal. This summer I'm looking to work for a judge (I'd prefer it to be a bankruptcy judge as this is the area of law I'm looking to get into). There are several in Houston that I can apply to, but I'd also like to apply to a few in Austin as well as out of state (ie California). When I graduate, I want to practice in Houston, Austin, or LA, so I figure working a summer in either city would be a good chance to establish some roots.

My question is when should I apply for a clerkship with these judges? I remember last yr as a 1L, people didn't apply until January or February for clerkships. Given that I'm a 2L now and the job market is kind of tight, I wanted to apply earlier for these positions.

As for clerkships in LA, should I mention that I'll be in the area on X dates and would be available to interview with them then? As well, should I send my resume, cover letter, etc to the actual judge or to the clerk for the court?

As for my credentials, I'm right outside of the top 1/3. I'm not on a journal this semester but am doing work with the Mock Trial teams at school. I competed this summer on the Mock Trial teams as well as working for the professor (as mentioned above)

I got a call yesterday from a firm in my town inviting me to a reception for interested 1L students on Monday. I've never been to one of these before and was wondering if any of you could clue me in as to what I should expect. Any tips, tricks of the trade, etc would be appreciated.

Ok, here's a situation I've run into. I've got contact information for a recruiting coordinator, but by looking at the name alone, I can't tell if it is a male or female. I don't want to address it to a Mr. when it's actually a Ms., and vice versa.

Any ideas on how to handle this? I looked around the firms website to see if I could find a picture or bio on the person, but was unable to locate anything.

I went ahead and ordered Guerilla Tactics from Amazon this afternoon. However, since it'll be a couple days until the book gets here, I wanted to apply to a few firms before Christmas rolls around.

Let me ask those of you who have done this before a question. When I'm sending my cover letters and resumes to the firms, should I send them to the recruiting coordinators or the hiring partners? A couple of my fellow 1L's have sent their cover letters and resumes via snail mail while others have chosen to do it via e-mail. Is there really a benefit either way?? (besides the fact that it'll be more costly to mail these interest letters out to all of these firms)

I was looking on NALP earlier today and found a few firms that hire 1L's for the summer. I'm currently in Texas for law school but want to go to either California or Florida to work during the coming summer. I'm not at one of the top schools in Texas (ie UT or Baylor), so that could hinder my chances applying to some of these firms w/out a "big name" law school. I know it may be a long shot trying to come in from out of state, but I figure there's no harm in trying.

On NALP, there are some contact names/e-mails/addresses/etc. My question is should I contact these hiring partners now and let them know I'm interested?? (granted, being a 1L I don't have any grades yet. I probably won't have any until at least mid January)

Any advice on how to show interest in some of these positions given the fact I'd be coming in from out of state and I don't have any grades yet? I'm just a little confused about how to handle the whole process as it seems somewhat overwhelming. Thanks for the help!

So I looked at the status checker today for Southwestern and got put on the waitlist after what seemed like an eternity (I had been complete for 3 + months, though probably not as long as others had been) Anyways, I don't live in California, so going there would require a bit of planning in terms of housing, car, etc.

I was looking on LSN and saw that a lot of the people on the waitlist from years past didn't hear back until the start of August. I'm sure there have been others who have been taken off the waitlist and accepted sooner than that...but with my situation, the sooner I find out the better.

Does anyone have any ideas, thoughts, etc on what I can do in order to somewhat expedite my standing on the waitlist?? Thanks ya'll, I appreciate your support.

I've got a question about the process of applying for financial aid with several of the schools I applied to. I realize it's a little late in the financial aid application cycle, but I got my dates a little mixed up and am frantically trying to get my paperwork taken care of.

Most of the schools have their own financial aid application that they require. As well, some mention that the FAFSA is necessary as well, but others don't mention it in their requirements. My question is, in order to apply for financial aid, do I just need to fill out the school's application as well as the FAFSA?? I never had to use financial aid for my undergrad, so I'm a little confused about the overall process.